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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509972">Incognito</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouiseLouise/pseuds/LouiseLouise'>LouiseLouise</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Childhood, Fluff, Kid Eddie Diaz, Kid Evan "Buck" Buckley, Librarian prompt game, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:36:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>580</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouiseLouise/pseuds/LouiseLouise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Evan Buckley is a curious little boy who'd love to see for himself what the Buckleys' Masquerade Ball is like. Help comes in the shape of an older boy he's never met before.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Incognito</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the <a href="https://theladyandthewolves.tumblr.com/post/619452109239336960/send-me-librarian-a-number-and-ill-grab-the">Librarian prompt meme</a>. Sif asked for page 165 and the nearest book I found was “La Compagnie des Glaces” by Georges-Jean Arnaud.<br/>The quote I'll be using as prompt is (translated from French by me): <i>“I want to go out,” she says, “go to a show or elsewhere, but not stay in this palace.”</i></p><p>Thank you <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/marciaelena">marciaelena</a> for the beta. Twice ;) All remaining mistakes are mine, English is not my first language.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Please, Mother, I don’t want to stay in my room, please, please, can I go with you and Father?”</p><p>Evan can see the struggle on his mother’s face, can feel she’s almost ready to cave. There aren’t many things Aurora Buckley could deny her beloved son, especially when he uses that pleading look he’s mastered over the years. He hugs her tightly, this time whispering against her neck to take him with her.</p><p>But his father comes to stand by the door and the spell is broken.</p><p>“I’m sorry, darling,” she says, keeping her voice down, like she wants him to know that it’s not an easy decision for her to make. “The Masquerade is not a place for children, you know that.”</p><p>His father clears his throat behind her, signaling that he’s waited long enough, and within an instant she’s standing up and walking out the door.</p><p>Evan feels sadness fill his heart, along with something else. Something that pushes him to leave his bedroom and walk down the corridors, being as discreet as he can, winking at the staff as he passes them. They all adore him, and none of them would ever think of ratting him out to his parents if they suspected he was about to get up to some mischief. He tries to never take advantage of that, but tonight’s different; he wants to see for himself what that masquerade ball is all about, and he’s not giving up on his goal.</p><p>It only takes him a few minutes to reach the service corridor behind the ballroom, where the noise of the conversations merges with the soft notes of the musicians hired to entertain the rich friends of his family.</p><p>He sees the masked crowd dressed in colorful outfits and shiny fabrics, hears the laughter. It looks and sounds like the most fun place to be in this moment, and part of him wonders why his parents would deny him such an amazing thing.</p><p>As he’s about to sneak into the room a hand on his shoulder stops him, and for a second he fears someone is finally going to be mad at him.</p><p>But the hand belongs to a boy he’s never met before, a little taller than him, with the darkest hair and the shiniest brown eyes he’s ever seen.</p><p>“You should try this,” the boy says, holding out his hand and offering a mask for Evan to wear. As Evan hesitates, the boy lowers himself to be at his eye level. “They’ll find out that you’re here, eventually, but your secret will be safe longer that way.” He waves the mask under Evan’s nose, smiling and staring at Evan as he waits for him to make a decision.</p><p>With a sigh, Evan takes it and puts it on. “Why are you helping me?”</p><p>The boy shrugs, still smiling. “Someone needs to have your back.”</p><p>Evan stares at the boy for a second, wanting to trust him so desperately, feeling like he can. “Thank you.”</p><p>The boy winks and presses a soft kiss onto Evan’s temple before turning on his heels, almost crashing into someone coming out of the kitchen carrying trays of appetizers.</p><p>“One day I’ll have yours,” Evan says, trying not to shout and draw attention to himself, but hoping the boy heard him before he disappeared among the crowd of caterers. </p><p>It takes years before he can deliver on that promise, but eventually he does. And the rest is history.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! You can find this story with my writing <a href="https://theladyandthewolves.tumblr.com/post/639235011614326784/librarian-165-sif">on tumblr</a>.</p><p>Like always, every kudos, comment and emoji is a treasure ♥</p></blockquote></div></div>
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